But I like this specific grocery store since their delivery service is excellent. Nothing broken. No mix-ups or mishaps.

So I was surprised when, about an hour after I got home, the delivery arrived and I discovered, among my groceries, something I had not bought…10 packages of margarine.

35.5% saturated fat.
7% trans fat.
1440 calories per package.

Not something I want in my fridge or anywhere in the vicinity of the Weisberg home.

I called the supermarket to tell them about the mistake, and they promised to come pick them up by the end of the day. But they didn’t.

So I put the bag outside.
——————————————————————————————————–
Yesterday I had a really blah afternoon with the kids. Maybe cause it was raining all afternoon so we were cooped up together in the house from 2 PM until, like, forever.

The funny thing is that today I was telling my husband about yesterday. How 3-year-old Yaakov got really excited when he saw the yellow grapefruit Josh had brought home from the shuk and picked it up and declared: “A melon!”

And then, I told Josh, Yaakov cut it up that sour sour grapefruit with a butter knife and ate the entire thing with a ton of gusto. Since, you know, he loves melon!

And then I asked the kids if this year they had already seen a blossoming almond tree, a Shakedia Porachat, just like in the Tu b’Shvat song. Tsofia said that she had, but Yaakov insisted that he hadn’t seen even one “Shakedia Borachat” yet. “You didn’t see a what?” I asked him. He had not yet seen a “Shakedia Borachat, an almond tree that runs away.”

Telling these stories, my afternoon sounded so adorable and dreamy quality-time-ish, rather than the blah, grouchy, interminable span of time it actually felt like.

And I thought of that margarine. How it had come uninvited, and how I’d removed it from my home.

And I thought how much I would like to make the same choices about what I keep in my heart as well.

Until the last line, I couldn’t figure out the connection with the margarine. How beautiful to be able to see Hashem’s messages in the smallest details of life. I really love the analogy – my negative thoughts and feelings are just as toxic for me and my family as the saturated fat in margarine, if not more so. And wouldn’t it be lovely if I could just take that emotional and mental garbage and dump it outside? It’s like an emotional health diet :). I love it. Thanks for the inspiration, as usual!!

Sorry for what might sound like a rebuke but I really think the right thing to do was to do a little bit more effort to return the margarine to the super so they could refund the person who originally purchased them,should this person inquire about the missing margarine in her delivery.
Let’s be open enough to allow the idea that what might seem to be a junk food to you might very well be a valued and needed food item in someone else’s house.
For all we know that might be a mother of a big family planning to bake homentashen with her kids. Or some Savta preparing to bake cookies for All of her grandchildren. It’s quite a loss, you know – maybe 50 shekel or more.
I know you are very busy like the most of us – I’m about your age and have
KY”H the family about the size of yours and I’m still saying what I’m saying :
A woman like you who has the time and feels the need to participate in different chavrutas and courses and other activities simultaneously – to upgrade her spiritual level and renew her spiritual kochos – which is the thing we all should strive to do – surely knows that your ruchnius is your fellow’s gashmiyus – our life is an ongoing process of our spiritual madrega being materialized in our practical action on behalf of our fellow Jews’very real practical needs here and now.

I would suggest that this particular test was being sent your way very probably as a reality check – to test your ruchnius in action. And instead of discovering a very interesting and no doubt important insight of not allowing impure thoughts to enter your mind, or along with this, what was probably needed is to do your best to prevent another person’s loss.

Sorry again if it sounds too harsh.
I do respect you greatly and you know what -all of us (myself included) see what other people have to correct :).
As for myself, for as long as I can remember I felt like I have a good eye, wish everyone only the best and am really happy with the luck and success of every Jew – until, that is until a girl I know closely won a million shekel or so – it took me days to extricate myself from all the jealosy –
that was a real surprise and,again,a reality check.

Wishing you and all the readers only the best,
Wishing that all of us will B’H get the guidance needed to truly know what is the next step in our avodat Hashem.

First, I wanted to say how much I love your blog and all you write and the effort and time you invest in your family and community is truly inspiring, yasher koach!

Regarding the above comment, I don’t know laws of damages, but I do think it’s the stores responsibility to pick up the miss-delivered margarine. Channah Jenny did call the store and tell them the mistake. They (the store) may have already reimbursed or re-delivered new margarine to the customer. There are losses in business that are taken by the business, not the customer. We don’t know if it would cost the store more to pick up the margarine then to reimburse the customer who didn’t receive their full order.

Once I was in a store with my kids and a jar of something (can’t remember what it was) broke. It was a small store and I told the owner I would like to pay for what we broke, since it was clearly our fault and a loss to him. He dismissed my request and said it happens, not to worry. I felt really terrible, but then was trying to think from his perspective that 20 or something shekel is not worth making a mother feel awkward or uncomfortable entering a store with young children. In the long run for him, he might have thought it better to take a loss.

we actually asked our rav on a different occasion when this happened. he said we should call the store and it is their responsibility to pick it up. this margarine was actually on sale for 1 shek (25 cents) per package, so I think you are probably right that it costs them more to send the delivery truck than to just give the other person new margarine.

Wow! Your usual (but unusual!)extra-perception and sensitivity teaches us all something valuable. If I may, I’d like to share a little experience I had today that fits right in. Your sharing of your story made me think maybe it would be important to share as well, in this most apropos forum:
I was teaching Chumash to a small group of second graders this morning. Bright boys, but they need some individualized attention to keep up. I always like to try and raise the bar for them, so I prod them with questions and hope as they start thinking they will become inquisitive, as well. We were learning the passuk about Lot being advised by the angels to leave S’dom in a hurry – described as “at the appearance of the morning star” = the first rays of morning light. Get out early! Lest “you be included in the sin of the city.” I asked, why wouldn’t they give Lot plenty of time to pack, decide what provisions to take, prepare himself mentally, get a good night’s sleep? Why not go in the afternoon? One kid tried, “So he wouldn’t be included in the sins of S’dom.” That was just quoting words. What did it mean? I prodded: What does it show if you run out of a place so fast, at your first chance, instead of tarrying?” I gave a mashal – Let’s say you go into a room and after a little while it starts smelling HORRIBLE! (Boy ‘A’: “like rotten bananas!” Boy ‘B’ “Like old socks! Me: “Like smelly old socks soaked in rotten bananas!”)- Answer – you want to get out of there immediately or else you will start smelling like dirty old socks soaked in rotten bananas! Even if you went in clean. You don’t wait and think about it or look around to see what else you want to take. The boys got it. And then it hit me like a jolt. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe used to teach (loosely paraphrased): you can learn for current times from the Parsha. And I thought about all kinds of choices I make in my life that I eventually improve about but really tarry on the way! What kinds of attitudes that I am picking up on from society that are not in line with Torah; what kind of entertainment I tolerate for enjoyment’s sake, but at the same time allow myself to hear language, etc, that is not pure and holy! I hear the voice in my head that says, keep away – and my very savvy yetzer hara answers, I will, but I need to do this gradually over time. Gotta “work on it.” I see my message – make a cold break “Lest you be included in the sin of the city.”…and smell pretty bad. For you, out went the margarine. And with it something parallel happened in the spiritual dimension of your life. EXCELLENT!!!

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